AKB48’s First Single in Half A Year Will Be Released on September 18! The Center Is Moeka Y...
AKB48 Request Hour 2015 Ends in a “Green Flash”! NGT48 Announced!
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It wouldn’t be an AKB48 concert without several big announcements and the final day of AKB48 Set List Request Hour Best 1035 2015 on January 25th was no exception. The group revealed their upcoming single “Green Flash” (release date: March 4), added Niigata to their network of sister groups with NGT48, and a “young members” nationwide tour.
The first concert of the final day began with former SDN48 member Kazue Akita returning for “Hatsuiro no Tsubasa” at #50. The seemingly unsinkable Rino Sashihara’s debut solo single “Soredemo Suki Dayo” ranked in at #48.
“Ai no Sonzai” from AKB48’s 4th documentary “The Time Has Come” ranked in at #40.
“Heart Gata Virus”, a song originally performed by Haruna Kojima became a “triple Kojima” unit as she was joined by Natsuki and Mako Kojima (no relation) when it ranked in at #39. Team 8 made their first appearance on the Set List with “Seifuku no Hane” at #38 and returned during the evening show with “47 no Suteki na Machi he” at #11.
Two of HKT48‘s smallest members made a big enough impression on fans to get voted in at #36 for their duet “Namaiki Lips”. Even though Atsuko Maeda returned to Request Hour twice this year, Mariko Shinoda was nowhere to be seen when “Ue Kara Mariko” ranked in at #33. Mood-maker of SKE48, Marika Tani quickly jumped into the spotlight as a replacement and changed it to “Ue Kara Marika”. Yuki Kashiwagi had 2 more solo songs enter the top 30 with “Yokaze no Shiwaza” at #29 and “Kazanbai” at #27.
The encore included “Koko de Rhodes da, Koko de Tobe!” followed by Jurina Matsui’s solo song “Akai Pin Heel to Professor” which featured her with several backup dancers that did not particularly look like professors. Mayu Watanabe performed her solo song from the new album “Junjou Soda Mizu” before the daytime performance ended with “Kibouteki Refrain”. A “young members” nationwide tour was announced but there were no specific details for what the criteria for “young” was so we will have to wait and see.
HKT48’s “Hikaeme I love you!” ranked in at #12 right after “Watashi wa Blueberry Pie” at #13. Team 4’s “Seijun Philosophy” dropped to #10 after being #1 in last year’s Request Hour. The unit of Dasu & Tsuma (Akari Suda and Kaori Matsumura) may have dropped from #4 to #9 with “Koko de Ippatsu” but had two songs on the final day with the help of Nita (Marika Tani) at #44 with “Koi Yori mo Dream”.
Aimi Eguchi didn’t appear for her song “Ice no Kuchizuke” but her body double and voice, Yukari Sasaki was there at #8. Sae Miyazawa and Jurina Matsui were joined by Yuka Nakanishi for a very handsome rendition of “Kiseki wa Maniawanai” at #7. “Kokoro no Placard”, “Kibouteki Refrain”, and “Koi Suru Fortune Cookie” went one after another at #6, #5, and #4. Minami Takahashi got a huge present from fans in her final Request Hour when her solo song “Jane Doe” ranked in at #3. Graduate to be Nana Yamada was sent off with a #2 ranking for her duet with Sayaka Yamamoto “Tomodachi”. Despite having a title so long that it is simply referred to as “Suzukake Nanchara” (official title of the song is “Suzukake no Ki no Michi de ‘Kimi no Hohoemi wo Yume ni Miru’ to Itteshimattara Bokutachi no Kankei wa Dou Kawatteshimaunoka, Bokunari ni Nannichi ka Kangaeta Ue deno Yaya Kihazukashii Ketsuron no youna Mono”), it moved up from #2 in 2014 to be the #1 song out of all 1035 songs in the “48 groups” catalog!
Just when it felt like things were over and it was okay to relax, AKB48 started the encore by performing their upcoming 39th single “Green Flash” (release date: March 4). With Haruna Kojima and Yuki Kashiwagi as the dual centers of the song, the title comes from the flash of light seen when the sun sets or rises and is a homage to the 1986 French film “Le Rayon vert”. Joining them are: Mayu Watanabe, Minami Takahashi, Anna Iriyama, Rina Kawaei, Yui Yokoyama, Mako Kojima, Sayaka Yamamoto, Haruka Shimazaki, Rina Ikoma, Rena Matsui, Yuria Kizaki, Jurina Matsui, Sakura Miyawaki, Rino Sashihara. “Green Flash” is Kashiwagi’s first single as center and represents a return to a 16-member senbatsu. Even though the outfits for the single are not green, at least the English on some of the members shirts is interesting?
However the biggest surprise of the week came when the announcement of a new sister group in the rural prefecture of Niigata, called NGT48, was announced. Scheduled to debut in October of 2015, auditions for 1st generation members would begin in March. While there has been much speculation about possible groups being established in several other bigger cities for years, Niigata is not exactly an idol hotspot (aside from Negicco) in Japan. With auditions for NGT48 and the second draft meeting taking place later in the spring, it looks like things are about get a whole lot more interesting (or confusing)!
Day 5 Set List (Day)
50. Hatsuiro no Tsubasa
49. Dakishimechaikenai
48. Soredemo Suki Dayo
47. Kimi no Hitomi wa Planetarium
46. Dakishimeraretara
45. LOVE Shugyou
44. Koi Yori mo Dream
43. Himitsu no Diary
42. Idol no Ouja
41. Ima, Kimi wo Omou
40. Ai no Sonzai
39. Heart Gata Virus
38. Seifuku no Hane
37. Souzou no Shijin
36. Namaiki Lips
35. Dazai Osamu wa Yonda ka?
34. Itoshisa no Accel
33. Ue Kara Mariko
32. Rashikunai
31. Heart no Dasshutsu Game
30. Hatsukoi wa Minoranai
29. Yokaze no Shiwaza
28. May
27. Kazanbai
26. Kimi no Koto ga Suki Dakara
Encore
Koko de Rhodes da, Koko de Tobe!
Akai Pin Heel to Professor
Junjou Soda Mizu
Kibouteki Refrain
Day 5 Set List (Evening)
25. Choose Me!
24. Warukii
23. Nusumareta Kuchibiru
22. Dakishimetai Kedo
21. Nakinagara Hohoende
20. Kono Namida wo Kimi ni Sagasu
19. Natsu no Mae
18. Temo Demo Namida
17. Escape
16. Watashi wa Watashi
15. Kareha no Station
14. Eien Pressure
13. Watashi wa Blueberry Pie
12. Hikaeme I love you!
11. 47 no Suteki na Machi he
10. Seijun Philosophy
09. Koko de Ippatsu
08. Ice no Kuchizuke
07. Kiseki wa Maniawanai
06. Kokoro no Placard
05. Kibouteki Refrain
04. Koisuru Fortune Cookie
03. Jane Doe
02. Tomodachi
01. Suzukake Nanchara
Encore
Green Flash
Shojo Tachi yo
Heavy Rotation
AKB48 Young Member National Tour
March 25, 2015 Saitama Super Arena (Saitama)
March 26, 2015 Saitama Super Arena (Saitama)
April 12, 2015 Nagasaki Brick Hall (Nagasaki)
April 29, 2015 Kagoshima Citizens’ Culture Hall (Kagoshima)
May 2, 2015 Okayama Civic Hall (Okayama)
May 16, 2015 Yuki Bunka Center Across (Ibaraki)
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Kai Okudara
Writer, researcher, photographer, foodie, KSDD
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